The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant: The Discovery of the Treasure of Solomon (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Like all Graham Phillips’ works, this book is well-researched, challenging, and a real page-turner. A must-have for readers with inquiring minds who love a quest.”
(Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, authors of The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ )

“In this extraordinary historical quest Graham Phillips reveals powerful new evidence not only for the existence of the lost Ark, but also its final fate and last resting place. His incredible research blows away existing myths while at the same time painting an entirely new picture of an enigma that has baffled the world for over 3,000 years.”
(Andrew Collins, author of From the Ashes of Angels and Twenty-First Century Grail )

"Laced with Biblical quotations, filled with adventures that rival those of Indiana Jones, this book provides 'scientific evidence' that the Ark of the Covenant had the power to destroy armies and bring down the walls of cities, and that these claims may be true. . . . To this one, we can just say, 'Wow.'"
(

Ann LaFarge, Taconic Press, January, 2005

)

“. . . readers will not have to look further than Templars and the Ark of the Covenant for a briskly narrated series of credible speculations supported by physical evidence for perhaps the greatest discovery of its kind.”
(Frank Joseph, Fate, June 2005 )

". . . Phillips makes a very credible case, and his long and winding search for the truth makes for a gripping narative. Definitely a cut above many other books relating to the Templar mysteries. Quite fascinating."
(W. Ritchie Benedict, New Dawn, Nov-Dec 2005 )

Product Description

Offers compelling evidence that the Knights Templar may have taken the Ark of the Covenant to the British Isles.

• Presents scientific evidence affirming the powers attributed to the Ark.

• Traces the Ark and the Stones of Fire from Jerusalem to Jordan and finally to central England, where the Knights Templar hid them in the 14th century.

According to legend the Ark of the Covenant was an ornate golden chest that was both a means of communicating with God and a terrible weapon used against the enemies of the ancient Israelites. In order to use it the high priest had to wear a breastplate containing twelve sacred gemstones called the Stones of Fire. These objects were kept in the Great Temple of Jerusalem until they vanished following the Babylonian invasion in 597 B.C.E.

At the ancient ruins of Petra in southern Jordan, Graham Phillips uncovered evidence that 13th-century Templars found the Ark and the Stones of Fire, and that they brought these treasures back to central England when they fled the persecution of French king Philip the Fair a century later. The author followed ciphered messages left by the Templars in church paintings, inscriptions, and stained glass windows to what may well be three of the Stones of Fire. When examined by Oxford University scientists these stones were found to possess odd physical properties that interfered with electronic equipment and produced a sphere of floating light similar to ball lightning.

The Bible asserts that the Ark had the power to destroy armies and bring down the walls of cities. Now Graham Phillips provides scientific evidence that these claims may be true and offers compelling documentation that the Ark may be located in the English countryside, not far from the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Bear & Company (September 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591430399
• ISBN-13: 978-1591430391
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #453,845 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely book, December 22, 2004

By	Dana (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

I travel a lot between the US and the UK and have visited the area where the author's research in this book led him. It is really lovely countryside near to the birthplace of William Shakespeare. I was a bit skeptical when I began reading this book, but when it turned to areas and places I knew then I became more convinced. I had seen the enigmatic murals in the small church where the Knights Templars left their clues and had always wondered what they meant. It was really wonderful to find an explanation for them in his book. It really is a lovely piece of writing and detective work.

One last thing! I notice that one reviewer says that Graham Phillips does not have his findings covered by the British newspapers. I have seen many features about his work in the UK. This book, for instance, had a whole page feature in the British newspaper, The Sunday Express, and the book before that was featured in both the national newspapers The Sunday Times and The Independent. Whether one likes Graham's books or not, the fact is that he is something of a household name in the British Isles. I hope that soon one of his investigations will bring him to the USA.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshingly different relic, February 3, 2005

By	Jed Masey (Bozeman, Montana) - See all my reviews

With so many books being written about the Holy Grail at the moment, with the Da Vinci Code making the subject popular, it is refreshing to find one about another sacred artifact. Interestingly, although the Ark of the Covenant is clearly the most important relic mentioned in the Bible, it has been the Grail, or the cup of the Last Supper, which has attracted the most interest by historians and other researchers. In this book, Phillips examines the Ark - the gold chest that was supposed to perform miracles - and proposes some interesting ideas about how it might have worked. He also follows the trail of a group of twelfth-century Crusader knights who claim to have found it and re-hid it when they were persecuted by the Church. Personally, I am not sure that this was the right trail for the author to follow as there are a number of other possible scenarios for what may have happened to the Ark after it disappeared from the Temple of Solomon in Old Testament times. Nevertheless, Phillips does examine most of the other theories in his book, although not in as much detail as I would have liked. In particular: the theory that the Ark was taken to Ethiopia where it is still thought to reside. All the same, this is a well-written, easy to follow investigation, told in the first person with some remarkable adventures along the way.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History, mystery and the unexplained, February 1, 2005

By	Dana (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

Being an historian myself, I found this book interesting to say the least. The author does a great deal of original research tracing the various Ark of the Covenant legends. The trail he finally decides to follow takes him to Great Britain where the Knights Templars are rumored to have brought the Ark after discovering it at Mount Sinai (at least one mountain that may have been Mount Sinai) in the twelfth century. Once again, there is a great deal of new material here that the author has done much legwork uncovering. The book ends with an extraordinary quest to unravel a series of secret codes left by the Templars and their successors, and a series of what can only be termed supernatural events. I recently visited England and went to the sites involved and have to admit that everything is just as Graham Phillips describes. I'm not too sure what to make of the author and his companion's claims to have seen strange, floating balls of light in the area where the Templars are supposed to have hidden the Ark, but there do seem to be a lot of witnesses the phenomena. I actually spoke to some of them myself while there. This book takes a certain suspension of disbelief, but it is well worth the read. I found it a most enjoyable and well written historical mystery. It all sounds far more exciting than the kind of research I do.